An actress who starred in the anti-Islamic film that sparked a wave of violent
protest in the Middle East is suing the producer, and asking a judge to
force YouTube to take it down.

Cindy Lee Garcia is accusing the filmmaker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, of fraud and slander, saying she was duped into appearing in the production, and was not aware of its anti-Muslim content.

Her civil suit, filed in Los Angeles, also named YouTube and its owner Google as defendants. It alleged that her right to privacy had been violated and her life endangered by the broadcast of a 14-minute clip from "Innocence of Muslims" on the internet.

Garcia, from Bakersfield, California, said she responded to an advertisement and thought she was acting in an ancient Egyptian adventure film called "Desert Warriors."

She said the pages of the script she received made no mention of the Prophet Mohammed, religion or sexual content, and the dialogue was dubbed over later.

The complaint said Garcia had a "the right to be free from having hateful words put in her mouth or being depicted as a bigot."

It said she had been subjected to death threats as a result of the film, suffered "shame, mortification, and hurt feelings," and would struggle to get acting roles in future.

She also accused Nakoula, Google and YouTube of unfair business practices, the use of her likeness without permission, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Her lawyer, M Cris Armenta, wrote in the complaint: "The film is vile and reprehensible. This lawsuit is not an attack on the First Amendment, nor on the right of Americans to say what they think, but does request that the offending content be removed from the internet."

Google and YouTube said they were reviewing the complaint and their lawyers would be in court to address it.